I found the following comment on a beer brewing related website, “If you are starting out we would not recommend Mr. Beer since there are better ways to start for the same price.” I wonder where they’re shopping?

Based on a quick shopping list of homebrew supplies I just put together, and I know I left some things out, the basic tools for a 5 gallon batch, roughly two cases — which is more practical anyway, if you’re brewing on your own without a “kit” — would be around $80 to $90, and that’s conservative! A ready to go 5 gallon home brewing kit with ingredients costs between $90 and $100 at Amazon.com and most other places. That should give you an idea.

I challenge you to go mix and match tools and equipment and spend less. It adds up quick once you start realizing what equipment you’ll really need for the task! You do not want to brew beer with a half-assed setup, your quality will suffer.

Now, a Mr. Beer Premium System (also available at Amazon.com) has all you need to brew about a case of beer, including ingredients and bottles, and it runs about $40.

Once you have that equipment, you can brew each additional case for the cost of a Mr. Beer Refill Pack (which includes hopped malt extract, yeast, and sanitizer) for about $13. A Mr. Beer 3-Beer Mix Variety Pack only costs $30. That’s 3 cases of beer for $10 per case! You can’t buy a twelve pack of ale for that in the store! I haven’t factored shipping into any of this by the way, but many items shipped from Amazon.com ship free if the order total is over $25 anyway. This does not apply to third party sellers through Amazon.

Comparatively, once you’re all set with a 5 gallon setup you would only need to buy ingredients too, but the costs of liquid malt extract and hops for an average ale style would be about $30 or more. That’s roughly $15 per case, at the minimum. Trust me, once you start playing with flavor additions or specialty grains you’ll boost your expense quickly.

In this economy, you can save money on beer, and have a fun hobby brewing your own, with a simple to use kit from Mr. Beer. Follow the instructions, work clean, and get consistent, flavorful results.

I have acquired a Mr. Beer kit — as well as ingredient packs for their Standard, Deluxe and Premium varieties — and I will be reviewing the kit, the process and the resulting brews in future blog posts, so stop back soon.

Tags: beer brewing, beer kit, Beer Premium System, Beer Refill Pack, home brewing, mister beer, mr beer, mr beer brew, mr beer fermenter, mr beer kit, mr beer review, mr beer tips, mr brew

This entry was posted by Drew Vics on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Product Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.